Armed Australian soldiers, police to deploy to MH17 crash site

A photo taken on July 23, 2014 shows the crash site of the downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in a field near the village of Grabove, in the Donetsk region. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) / AFP

A proposed multinational force to further secure the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine will now include over 100 armed Australian police and soldiers. The move comes shortly after 40 unarmed Dutchmen had been deployed to “further stabilize the area.”

The additional Australian personnel were discussed by Prime
Minister Tony Abbott with President Putin, and will join a
contingent of 90 Australian Federal Police (AFP) currently in
London, awaiting an order for deployment. The decision will come
once Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gives the go-ahead and
the parliament approves the decision, Reuters reports.

The Australian PM told the press that "This is a humanitarian
mission, with a clear and simple objective… I expect the
operation on the ground in Ukraine, should the deployment go
ahead, to last no longer than a few weeks."

Later on Friday, Canberra announced a small contingent of
Australian soldiers would also be deployed to provide back up to
the police tasked with securing the site.

On Thursday an announcement was made on the deployment of the
first batch of 50 Australians. That number climbed to 90 by
Friday.

For its part, the Dutch government announced on Thursday it was
sending 40 unarmed police to the MH17 crash site to “further
stabilize the area”, shortly after the Australian PM’s
conversation with President Putin that would allow a bolstered
multinational force on the ground.

As 50 Australians are in London awaiting an order for deployment
to the scene, the Dutch police are set on “examining means to
further stabilize the surroundings… it requires international
discussions, it requires a legal mandate,” Prime Minister
Mark Rutte said.

"It's absolutely not certain that this is all going to work.
It's very complex and requires many partners," Rutte
continued, adding that the operation “must happen very
carefully, which is why the cabinet is seeking ways to strengthen
our commitment on the ground in the coming days, but that will
happen step-by-step…"

An additional 23 investigators will be provided by the Dutch to
accompany the 40 unarmed royal military policemen, according to
AFP.

At the time, the Dutch PM refused to comment on whether the
Netherlands and Australia are in talks to draft a new UN Security
Council resolution to allow armed personnel into Ukraine. This
appears to be changing.

Meanwhile the flight recorders, transported to a UK lab, have
been unsealed and their memory copied for analysis. The
inspection revealed no evidence of tampering with the devices,
which may be crucial for investigation, the Interstate Aviation
Committee reported on Friday, an international body tasked with
investigating all civil aviation incidents in most of former
Soviet Union.